Direct and indirect selection for yield in chickpea

Summary The efficiency of indirect selection for seed yield was compared with direct selection for yield per se in chickpea. A total of 2500 single F₂ plants, derived from 50 crosses with 50 plants from each cross, were divided into five sub-populations (SP1 to SP5) of 500 plants each by including 10 plants from each of the 50 crosses. The five sub-populations were advanced upto F₆ by exercising 10% selection intensity for four successive generations for number of pods per plant in SP1, number of seeds per pod in SP2, seed weight in SP3, seed yield in SP4 and random selection in SP5. The efficiency of direct and indirect selection for yield was evaluated by comparing groups of 50 F₆ lines from each sub-population. SP1 and SP3 F₆ lines showed higher mean grain yield than the other three methods. SP1 and SP3 were found to be almost equally efficient in developing F₆ lines which were significantly superior to the check. This suggests that indirect selection for yield via pod number and seed weight is more efficient than direct selection for yield.